506Murphy

Wow, nice work!

weeks21

iTrader: (1)

Holy ****!!!

FX4ford

Damn thats just.... Wow. So are you running the stock stereo and the aftermarket DVD/NAV? This set up is crazy but very genius! Good job!

shortride

iTrader: (1)

The question is, would you do it again?

mamonti

Thanks guys, I do like the contrast between the two colors also. I did move the cubby from the front and put it where the shifter was since I didn't want the expense on converting it to console shift. I did keep the tow/haul button and the SST and plan on putting them right under the armrest where it will be easy to access but not to bump into. As for would I do it all over again? NO! Only because I know now what is involved but I do like it much more than the smaller center console that you can get with the bucket seats. Some are saying "What"??? Why?? well it started off as I said being old school, whenever I have had a vehicle with a console it has always met with the dash. The center console they have available for the XLT doesn't make much sense to me since you really can't use the space in front of it for anything so why not take it up with a full console. So that is why I went the flow through way. Then the Sync system came into play, as you can't get the NAV on an XLT and I needed the 8' bed and you can't get that in anything other than an XT or XLT I needed to put my Kenwood in. Then came all of the ,, does this work, will that work, oh you need this and that, and if you want to do this, you need to get that?? and hundreds of dollars later does it really work and is it reliable? Then you read some have had problems with the sync and what is the dealer going to say if you have all these things NOT OEM installed about your warranty. So i set out to remedy all of the above, I didn't hack any wires nor did I even splice into one. I can convert this back to an stock XLT in 1 hour and you would never know I did what I did other than the mark left behind in the carpet where the console sits and that will go away in a day or two. So if I want to trade it off,,, NOT a problem. So now the only thing the dealer or Ford can say is that the radio needs to be in the same position as it was from factory to work??? Not going to happen. So I have all the functions of the OEM plus all the functions of the NAV/DVD including the rear camera anytime I want to view it. Not only that but the thing my NAV didn't have is the automatic volume adjust for outside noise and now that I am putting it through the OEM system I now have that also! So there you have it! AS a side note, I don't plan on trading it off as at my age it may and should be the last truck I will need to buy but if something comes out later that makes sense like a truck that gets 30 MPG and gas is 5.00 a gallon then I may want to get another one.

Wanted33

WOW, your a braver soul than I my friend. Looks great, and I'll bet there ain't another like it.

RES4CUE

You had to splice the Kenwood into the stock wiring somehow, right? How would that work and which is the master and which is the slave?

That is pretty slick though. I love a good work around, the only time the space gets used in front of my console is when my wife puts her purse there, perfect fit. lol

mamonti

Res4cue, LOL! See I didn't think about that since I got rid of my wife years ago! The only splicing I did was on the aoem FRD 24! I got my ground, power, and remote wires from the frd 24 then I cut the speaker wires on the frd 24 and wired the speakers coming from the amp into the frd. The way it is hooked through the system is by using the preamp out on the Kenwood to the line in on the sync. I am not sure what you mean by which is the master and slave, but if you mean which runs the show, that would be the OEM system and the Kenwood hooks into that. The only thing I use it for is NAV and while I am using it I have a hard drive hooked into the Kenwood also so I use it to play music while I am using the NAV. It also has the Bluetooth for my phone so if the sync system decided not to work or need reset than I can use the Kenwood for the phone. Redundancy at its best!! Of course I can also watch DVD's and again it plays through the OEM system.

tom231

That looks pretty bad ***! My wife thinks so too..... It made me think of this song for some reason??? lol

jjm1024

Looks great man! I want to do the same exact thing, minus keeping the factory radio. Do you have a parts list of everything you needed to accomplish this? I only need the Ford trim pieces more specifically. I got a little lost reading the first post.

Thanks for all the info. . . still debating if I want to spend the time, money, and headaches. But since you got through it first, I figure maybe you can mitigate some of my pain and suffering!